All in the Name of Love
Chapter II: Part 1
Out of breath from having arrived on foot, the three criminals that managed to escape entered Tario's Tavern.
"What happened?" One of the chief criminals yelled.
"They ambushed us." Responded one of the breathless escapees.
"Ambushed you? You were supposed to ambush them!" Responded another chief.
"How did they ambush you? There were 64 of you and only three of them,'' queried another.
"They… used… some powerful magic." Said one.
"Yeah, they must be Kei Pirates, not Outlaws like we thought." Another of the escapees said.
"Pirates my ass! Pirates don't go bounty hunting this way." Said another who was looking out the window.
"Let's get out of here? If we make a run for it we might still have a chance to get off this planet alive!" Yet another exclaimed.
"No! It ends here. It ends now." One of the leaders said. With those words everyone took a seat and waited.
A few moments later, Gene, Suzuka and Aisha walked through the Tavern doors. A quick look around told them there was a little over a hundred people crammed into the small tavern. No one made a move. With all eyes on them, waiting to see what they would do first, Gene made his way over to the bar. Aisha and Suzuka followed. Trusting in both of Aisha and Suzuka's senses rather than true bravado, Gene stood with his back to his prey. Aisha stood to his right and Suzuka to his left.
The bartender nervously walked up to them. "What will it be?"
"Ctarl Ale."
"Single malt Scotch on the rocks."
"Oolong Tea."
"Lady, this is a bar not a country club"
"Sake, hot."
The bartender turned on a small burner under the bar, with trembling hands; he placed the sake bottle in a pot of water and set it on the burner. He then grabbed a liter bottle of Ctarl Ale, dusted it off and handed it over to Aisha. He turned around, grabbed a bottle of single malt scotch, filled a glass with ice and poured the scotch giving it to Gene. Finally, he turned off the burner, slipping on a glove, placed the bottle in front of Suzuka along with a small ceramic cup.
"That'll be…" The bartender started to say.
"Here." Gene tossed a 50 wong bill on the bar. "Keep the change."
The bartender grabbed the bill with a shaky hand and nodded, mouthing thanks without a word passing his lips. Not able to take the tension any longer, he made his way to the far end of the bar.
Aisha opened the bottle and took a big swig.
"Aah! Now that's Ale." She took another drink.
Gene took a long slow drink of his whiskey, closing his eyes momentarily as the cold liquid burned the back of this throat.
Suzuka gingerly poured herself a cup of sake and with both hands raised the cup to her mouth. She took a small sip and savored the hot flavorful wine. Finishing the cup with a second sip, she poured herself a second cup.
Growing impatient, one of the lead criminals barked out. "Hey Outlaw! Do you ever go anywhere without your two bitches?"
The rest of the criminals broke out in laughter.
Suzuka didn't even flinch. 'Words from a fool, a soon to be dead fool at that.'
Aisha, on the other hand, tightened her grip on her bottle and clinched her teeth. "GRRR!"
"Easy Aisha, you'll get your chance to make him eat his words soon enough." Gene whispered. Aisha nodded ever so slightly and continued drinking her ale.
Finishing the last of his whiskey, Gene set his glass down away from himself. He looked over at Suzuka who was finishing the last of her sake. She set her cup down and pushed it away from herself much as Gene had. They both turned towards Aisha who had her bottle tilted straight down over her mouth, trying to coax the last few drops out. Setting the bottle down Aisha turned towards the other two and grinned.
"Let's do it." She said, removing her metal whip from her belt and setting it on the bar. "I'm going to take special pleasure in tearing these assholes apart with my bare hands."
They turned around in unison to see over a hundred guns pointed in their direction.
~~~~~~~~~
AN: Sorry for the long delay in posting the next chapter. I seem to have lost my beta-reader, though I don't know for sure since I've been unable to contact him and haven't heard from him since he sent me his comments on Chapter 1. Nick, if you're out there please email me and let me know what's going on.
Anyway, in order to get this story posted, I've decide to brake the story up into smaller, easier to edit chapters. So while chapter 2 was originally 12 pages in Word, this part of chapter 2 is the first 3 pages. I'll try to find a good breaking point each time.
As I mentioned before, there are parts of this story that make reference to my other OLS story, The Rise before the Fall, which is here on FF.net as well as on www.noscams.org (click on fanfic).
Thanks for taking the time to read my story, I hope you enjoy it. ^_^
A. Amishi
PS: Just 16 days till ACEN'03!!! ^___^